Alyssa - Bella Salon & Spa Shoot

So Bella Salon & Spa was rehearsing for a fashion event coming up soon here in Austin, Texas. They had reached out to local photography guru Steven Wampler, (look him up on Flickr) and you'll see why. He's a powerhouse strobist like photography who nails these technical and perfectly executed lit portraits.

 

While Steven was in the main area shooting headshots I decided to wander off into the back area of the salon. There I found a room dedicated to shampooing hair, prepping for coloring, etc. It was pretty neat. The first thing I noticed was this shelf for storage in the background that had all these angular lines. I took a test shot and liked how it looked with the 85mm f1.8. The depth of field kept some pattern and angle detail without being too overpowering. In fact what I liked most was having this rigid formed pattern and geometry juxtapozed against this more fluid, shaped, curving, organicly formed hairstyle for each of the stylists.

 

This young model did two looks for the night, sadly I only shot the first one, but she was great to work. I have a black and white of this image I also really like, I had a hard time deciding between the two. But, because these photos will be used for the stylists work in both makeup and hair, I thought it was important to see the colors of their work.

 

Thanks again to everyone at Bella Salon & Spa for the accomidating workspace and kind support.

 

Strobist info:

85mm f1.8 lens

Two SB800s shot both at 1/64th and 1/16th power. One through a 20" softbox photographer's left and a 60" shoot through umbrella photographer's right.

 

twitter: @lifebypixels

Done